Plato is Dead

Πλάτων απέθανον: Plato dies

Under the current flawed American educational system, intelligent students are not having their talents cultivated and there is little positive reinforcement to lead a fulfilling life. This opening sentence is one full of the passion and the massive disdain I have for the American school system. Ponder it, and prepare yourselves for justification in the coming days. However in this post I would like to address the fact that Americans no long are being versed in the Classics (by classics I mean Greek and Latin, in terms of language, and philosophy).

A few weeks ago I saw a book entitled something to the tune of “Why America Needs a Classical Education.” I have hitherto expressed similar sentiments and being as I am a student of Latin and Greek and have an immense passion for these subjects, I believe that all students should study at least elementary Latin. The classical tradition that nurtures free-thought and exploration would do wonders for the morale of the average student and open up a portal to the past that, for some, would never close.

Some students take Latin because they have been told that it would be good for them because it helps them on their SATs (it takes the strength of a thousand men to not make some snide remark or even subliminal comment about the Student Aptitude Test). Yet beyond etymological facilitation, the classics help one learn the structure of languages while simultaneously augmenting his vocabulary. It is true that most if not all students take some sort of foreign language in school, usually Español, Français, or Italiano. While one may become familiar with the language, it is rarely used conversationally, and few pursue it beyond their first few years of college. So all those years of studying a foreign language are for naught.

Another reason why a Classical education would ameliorate one’s high school experience is in the learning of a new language. Yes, I know the romance languages and English use the standard Latin characters, but Greek is a very different story. The Greek Language is comprised of twenty-four characters, many of which are new to those who have not studied the language, and the alphabet is a major obstacle for those who decide to take Greek. However, if one has studied another alphabet prior to this, Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew, etc., the characters of the language become a minor formality.

But back to the core issue of why America needs a Classical education. The fact is that in the study of the Classics one learns where the other languages come from. They learn the history some of the Ancient world, and some of the major themes, war, persecution, prejudice to name a few, have not changed.

While this may be a personal issue, American students know virtually nothing about philosophy. Many claim to be knowledgeable on the subject the fact remains they cant distinguish between the Dialectical Materialism and the Socratic Dialectic. Introducing Americans to philosophy have a positive affect on their life, and it is ancient philosophy, as long as we do not make them study Plato and Aristotle too in-depth to avoid a skyrocketing suicide rate, will have a positive impact on students’ lives.

To recap, America would benefit from having all public school students having a class where they study the classics in terms of the language, history, and philosophy. This will open their eyes to past cultures an help them study modern languages. There is something that the classics have that the moderns do not. Yes it is true that I could have written this entire entry in Spanish. Pero es la verdad que más de los personas que lean mi blog hablan ingles tan los que hablan español. There may have been a grammatical error in there and I cannot wait for someone to correct my Spanish. However, the point remains that Latin and Greek are not spoken languages, they are studied languages. With Spanish, the goal is to be able to read, write, and speak it. With Latin and Greek, the aim is to learn how the languages work, and to read it some, but not to become fluent in it. Even the Church no longer endorses conversational Latin on a wide scale, if at all. So, the aim is completely different. Plus Latin and Greek can be incorporated into writing and vocabulary comprehension more than Spanish and the other languages commonly taught to high-school students. In conclusion, America would benefit from teaching the Classics to all of its students.